The Tell-Tale Heart
This study guide will help you analyse the short story “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe. We will show you examples of elements in the text that will be relevant for your analysis. In these notes, we will summarise the text and focus on structure, themes, setting, narration, and characterisation, as well as help you put the text into perspective.
Presentation of the text
Title: “The Tell-Tale Heart” (1843)
Author: Edgar Allan Poe
Genre: Short story
Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) was an American writer. His poems and short stories deal with macabre themes, horror, thriller, and mystery. The short story “The Tell-Tale Heart” was first published in 1843 in The Pioneer: A Literary and Critical Magazine.
The version of the text used in this study guide is from the anthology Wider Contexts, pp. 154-160, Gyldendal, Copenhagen 2012.
Extract
Below, you can read a short extract from the study guide: